TBTP: Arrogance and Closure
This story is a bonus chapter in a '''Turn Back the Pendulum arc', the series of stories written by my greatly-respected Wikia colleague, Ten Tails. So, he should be credited with the inspiration for me wanting to write this little bonus chapter. It will consist of both this user's characters, as well as Ten's characters. Comments are welcome and encouraged.'' ---- It was near mid-afternoon in Karakura Town, and the sun's summer rays shone brightly against the various housing and business structures of the town. One place where the sun shone less, however, was a small house on the outskirts of the town. It was moderate in appearance, and not large enough to house a family. It could be inferred that a person living on their own would be in such a dwelling. A man with short brown hair walked down the dirt road, and neared the small house. He knocked on the front door, seeming rather old via the chipping grey paint. The door opened slightly, and the disheveled eyes of a silver-haired man appeared. The brown-haired man had a soft smile on his face, and lifted a small basket in his hand. "I brought over some sweets. I know how much you love sake-flavored cakes. Want 'em?" he stated, having a light grin on his face. The silver-haired man drew a soft smile, and let the brown-haired man inside. The brown-haired man, named Raian, looked around to see a room completely filled with scatterings of papers, books, and several research materials. If this was the room of some ten-year-old child, the mother would have been driven crazy if she had to clean up. The silver-haired man, known as Seireitou, put his hands in his pockets, and rose his head with a light smirk. "I never knew studying forbidden material was so much fun..." he stated in a rather dazed and bored tone. Raian stepped over to his friend, and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "I may not know as much as you do about this stuff... but I'm not stupid enough to overlook it when one is studying a taboo!" Raian stated, as Seireitou turned his head away, losing the smile he had before. "I haven't done anything, Raian..." he answered softly. Raian lightened the grip on his shirt, but kept his eyes narrowed. "No, but you were going to." Raian followed, letting go of Seireitou's collar. Seireitou looked upwards once more, and sighed lightly. "You know. I could've done something then too. I could've saved Shiori... just as I should've saved Kamui before that war broke out. And I could've saved them too... The Seijin Masters who died..." he spoke. "It was a war. They were warriors, you have no right to feel sorry for them, when they died honorably to fight for what they believed." Raian stated. "Besides... I thought you were over that. Shiori's death, I mean..." "I thought so too... but then..." he looked around, at all the notes and textbooks he had scattered around the floor and desks respectfully. "With this information, I thought... I thought back to what I could've done... Done differently..." he continued. "What did you think?" Raian began. "That with some all-nighters of studying, you could find some way to cheat death? Bring back everybody you loved who died? Create some perfect world?!" Raian stated. Seireitou chuckled a bit with his eyes narrowed. "I dunno... maybe..." he answered, with Raian stepping closer, punching the silver-haired man right in his face. Seireitou slid backwards from the punch, but only answered with his head lifting up. "Do you think that your some... some know-it-all?!" Raian stated, angerly. But then, his temper lowered immediately. "Or are you just looking for a way to end it all? Because there are a lot of easier methods." he stated. Seireitou lowered his head. "I could've done it, Raian. My blade was right to my neck... I would've done it, then and there... but I was too cowardly to go through with it. I'm just a pathetic coward, in the end, no matter how strong I am..." he slowly confessed. Raian merely faced his friend, and then sighed. "Come on... don't be that melodramatic, Sei. I know that isn't who you are." he stated. Seireitou looked toward Raian, and had his eyes narrowed. "But even so... Even if I am a coward, I'll make sure there's some benefit that comes out of it." he stated. "I have a plan, Raian." With a curious look on Raian's face, he then stated. "Let's hear it, Sei..." Aftermath of the War Raian had then slowly opened his eyes, figuring out that he had fallen asleep on his desk. But, his head was still lowered down on the desk, thinking of the dream he had just had. He couldn't really consider it a dream, per se, but more of a memory he wasn't expecting to arise in his thoughts. The second Reikai war left much damage in its wake, but also gave birth to future discussions among the world leaders, in lieu of resorting to military action beforehand. Although not part of the Gotei 13, Raian was requested to assist in paperwork due to a shortage of military staff members on call, much to the brown-haired man's chagrin. It could explain why he ended up falling asleep on his desk, a rather unsightly puddle of drool drenching the papers in front of it. "Getsueikirite-sempai? You have a visitor." said a soft female voice. "It's alright, there's no rush." said a male voice, with a hint of laziness in his speech. Raian slowly rose his head, still in a drowsy stupor, but his eyes quickly burst open when he noticed the man who had requested him. Raian and Hikaru had then sat down on opposite-facing seats at the desk, with the latter's arms crossed over his chest. "Hikaru-san, it's been ages. I never really pegged you as the type to do this paperwork." he mused, but then burst a vein in his head. "Which must be why I ended up having to do it all..." he fumed, as Hikaru began chucking. "Paperwork's a drag, besides, it's not like I'' was the one to tell you to do this sh- stuff." he stated, a humorous chime in the tone of his voice. Raian smirked with his eyes closed, as Hikaru then spoke up again. "So, tell me. Where's ol' Gray-hairs at?" he asked, obviously referring to the pet name he called Seireitou by. "Knowing him, doing the best he can to avoid paperwork..." he mused, chuckling at the very statement he made. "Geez, that's not very nice. And here I was, ready to come help out." came a musing voice from the window, prompting the two men to look toward the source of the voice. And there he was, the very same "Gray-hairs" Hikaru had mentioned. Hikaru then smiled a cat-like grin, "Hey there, Gray-hairs." Seireitou narrowed his eyes, forming an annoyed look on his face as he jumped from the window sill. "Still calling me that? I'm nowhere ''near that age!" he voiced out. Raian began laughing as he witnessed his two good friends battle it out verbally about what to address Seireitou with. Hikaru then ended it, looking toward both Seireitou and Raian. "Anyways, the real reason I came here was to pass along a message given to me by that shrimp-of-a-head-captain. "You mean Mikami-kun?" asked Raian. "The very same. He wanted me to read to you the following message." Hikaru began, pulling out a scroll. "I was going to read it in in slang terms, but he'll end up developing acne due to stress if I do, sooo..." he ended, and began reading the letter scroll. Mikami's Message The letter would read: "Addressed to Former Captain of the Tenth Division, Raian Getsueikirite, and Former Captain of the Eighth Division, "Silver-Hairs" Seireitou Kawahiru. I did not wish to prolong any assistive requests made by myself on behalf of the Gotei 13, however, due to a shortage of military officers on staff call, I will need to ask for your assistance this last time..." Hikaru yawned a bit from reading it, and then closed one eye, looking at both of them. "You know, you could just flip off the little midget, right?" he mused lazily, with a smirk. Raian sighed with annoyance, "Doesn't seem like we have a choice. It is sort of our fault that we all got dragged into a wa-" he meant to finish, but then noticed that Seireitou was snoring loudly at his seat. He was asleep, causing Raian to quickly narrow his eyes in comic annoyance. "Then again... it's not like I'' had some purple-haired brother thrown into jail!" he roared in Seireitou's ear, causing him to quickly awaken and sit up with sleepy narrowed eyes, turning rigidly to face Raian. "Bitch better be making me breakfast..." he said, half-asleep, as Raian comically began shouting, getting into a cartoon-esque dust-surrounding battle with Seireitou, much to Hikaru's enjoyment. Hikaru then clapped his hands together, causing Raian to freeze, with Seireitou's half-beaten body being kept up by the collar, in comic annoyance. "Anywaaaaays... To sum it all up, he had heard word of some sort of problem down in the Human world. Rebels or another. Someplace named... Kusanō Town, in the northern end of Japan." he stated. "I dunno, somewhere there. I didn't pay much attention." he finished, walking toward the door as he held his hand up, signifying a farewell, as he left the room. Raian let go of a heavy sigh once more, and turned to Seireitou, who had finally awoken to hear the disclosed location. "So then... I guess we should check it out then?" Seireitou suggested, but then yawned as he continued. "And by we, I mean you. And by should check it out, I mean get your coat." he mused, preparing to walk out of the room, except he was only walking in place as Raian held the silver-haired man firmly by his collar. "Oh no, you're not skipping out ''this time! I had to do that pain-in-the-ass paperwork..." he started, forming the Senkaimon gate to appear. As the gates opened, he threw Seireitou inside, comically head-first, as he jumped in after him. "...So now you're gonna help me with this shit!" he stated, as if making a demand, not a suggestion. Dangers in the City Deep in Kusanō City's forested area, the screams of a female could be heard. However, this sound would remain silent to the ears of the physical world. A grey, life-less body would fall to the feet of a black-haired man with sunglasses, the latter bearing a rather unemotional frown. "Are we finished yet with this, I'm getting bored with this experimentation..." said the older-looking of the men behind the black-haired man. "I'm afraid not. Besides..." he began, turning his head a bit to the side, noticing the Senkaimon appearing the skies, a ways off from the trio's location. "Now we have more suitable test subjects. Take care of them." the man stating, fading away with what seemed to be a form of teleportation. As the Senkaimon opened, out flew the thrown Seireitou, keeping himself landed on the skies by drawing reishi to his feet. He stood up tall with an annoyed comic look on his face as Raian stepped out casually. "You know you didn't have to throw me in like that!" he shouted, causing Raian to not pay much heed. Raian then took notice, "Yeah, well. I did it. So there." he brushed off, sticking his tongue out at the silver-haired man, much to the latter's chagrin. Seireitou's attention then sharpened, as the two men from before appeared before the duo. Seireitou and Raian turned to face them, with the two strangers bearing respectively a smile and a frown. "Well well... Master did say you'd be more suitable test subjects, but judging from the spiritual pressure from you two, you're both near Master's level. "Master?" asked Raian, as he sighed, getting into a battle position. "Nevermind. Even if I asked, enemies never like to share information, do they?" Seireitou chuckled, "Well well, you're learning after all, Raian-san." he mused, as he too faced one of the two. "I'll take one, you take one?" Raian stated, to which Seireitou nodded. Suddenly, the four all disappeared with impressive speed. A Battle in Kusanō City Raian vs Yūro Seireitou vs Hyōrai